Average income of super rich: $202.4 million

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The 400 tax filers at the top of the income scale hauled in an average of $202.4 million in 2009 -- a 25% haircut from the prior year, according to the latest tax data from the IRS.

The agency recently released its latest annual analysis of the tax returns from the 400 filers with the highest adjusted gross incomes.

Individually, however, about 40% of them paid an effective rate higher than 25%. But close to a third paid an effective rate below 15%, which is also the case for the majority of Americans.

Lower-income households have very low effective tax rates thanks to a host of credits, deductions and exemptions that cancel out much if not all of their tax bill.

Many of the highest income households enjoy low effective tax rates because they often make a lot of their money from investments, such as capital gains, which typically are taxed at a much lower rate than the 35% top tax rate on ordinary income.